Thankfully, it appears the much-praised director has changed his mind, and decided to take on the daunting task of restoring balance to the force.

While there were other intriguing possibilities-Guillermo del Toro and Brad Bird both would have been interesting choices-Abrams may be the smartest move for Disney.

Not only has he demonstrated his sci-fi chops with Lost and Super 8, he has demonstrated an ability to resuscitate fading franchises with the well-received Mission Impossible III and the critically acclaimed Star Trekreboot.

On an even more surprising note, Deadlineand The Wrapboth report that Ben Affleck was also in the running for the job. With only three films under his belt as a director, Affleck would seem like a risky proposition, especially since he has no sci-fi experience, nor any professed love for the genre. (Argodoes have a fake Star Wars knockoff within the movie, but we don't see anything beyond some storyboards and a few costumes.) With Abrams, Disney chose to stay true to the nature of the franchise while hopefully eleveating it to the kind of creative level we haven't seen since the Ewoks celebrated on Endor.